FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 22, 2023 

Contact: press@campaignsharedfuture.org

The Campaign for Our Shared Future Responds to the U.S. Education Department’s Resolution Agreement with Georgia School District

Washington, D.C. - Today, the Campaign for Our Shared Future (COSF) Executive Director, Heather Harding, Ed.D., released the following statement in response to the resolution agreement reached by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights and Forsyth County, Georgia, on Friday. The Education Department held that the district’s handling of book challenges created a hostile environment on the basis of race and sex, and the district agreed to take immediate steps to assess the damage done and support the students harmed by their actions.

“This resolution agreement confirms what families across the country experience every day: Book bans and curriculum censorship create uncertainty and fear for all students and a hostile environment for those most directly affected. 

“All students should have access to high-quality, age-appropriate materials that educate and celebrate the rich history of our country. Instead, far too many districts are abandoning long-standing, thoughtful procedures for reviewing books in response to extremist politicians looking to score points at the expense of our children.

“Parents do not want politicians meddling in our children’s education. This resolution agreement reminds school and district leaders of their primary duty: to maintain a safe and supportive learning environment for their students, even as political storms swirl around them. Our families, educators, and school administrators must work together to protect books and materials that allow all students to be authentically represented.”

###

The Campaign for Our Shared Future (COSF) is a non-partisan effort to support high quality K-12 education and preserve access, inclusion, and meaningful content in our schools so that every student has an opportunity to succeed and thrive. COSF is a common ground effort committed to fighting the attack on education across the country.